Irma destroys homes and businesses

Tropical Storm Irma flooded northern Florida with heavy rain and high storm surge as it headed out of the state after cutting power to millions and ripping roofs off homes. Fred Katayama reports.

▲ 隐藏详情

▶ 显示详情

Downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, Irma will cause more damage as it tracks north.
Irma flooded cities, leaving almost 6.5 million homes and businesses without power in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama.
The catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide estimated it did between $20 and $40 billion in damage to insured property in the United States.
But Andrew Boyarsky, who runs risk, operations and emergency management programs at Yeshiva University, says Irma will cost more than that.
(SOUNDBITE) ANDREW BOYARSKY, ACADEMIC DIRECTOR OF RISK, OPERATIONS, AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, YESHIVA UNIVERSITY (ENGLISH) SAYING:
"There will be, you know, business interruption insurance, as well as property and loss damage. And then you have to look at basic property loss in terms of commercial production factories, service industries, and what have you. In addition, you're going to have infrastructure damage and private property."
Irma hit Florida after powering through the Caribbean as a rare Category 5 hurricane. It killed 38 people, including ten in Cuba.